Dealer recommendation - Craig Benner @ Koons VA (I drove 1000 miles to pick up my Ram...)

[Flot]

I had a number of people ask me why I drove 1000 miles to pick up my Ram. I did it to save $4000-5000 over the price I got locally, and wasn't a bad road trip with some stops on the way.

I used Craig Benner at Koons Ram in Tysons Corner, VA. He had run Jeep Wrangler group buys in the past, and I reached out to him in 2016 but never followed through with a purchase. When I was looking at a 2019 Ram, I shot him an email and said sure, he could order me a Ram too.

Craig's discounted prices are specifically targeted at vehicles he custom orders, NOT vehicles on the lot.

I sent Craig an email detailing the options I wanted, we probably went back and forth for 6-8 emails as I revised my order, and then I called to confirm and gave him a $1000 deposit by credit card online. He placed the order and got me the VON and VIN within a few days, and then it was just the waiting game for the factory to deliver. Craig gave me updates every so often, but I did end up subscribing to the jeepgarage tracking so I could see more details along the way.

I flew into IAD and it was about a $25 uber ride (but DCA is about the same and BWI about 2x as far) got to the dealer around 12:30 and was driving home by 3:00.

No games, price was exactly what Craig said it would be, and no pressure from the finance manager when I brought my credit union check. I arrived a little early so they rushed the truck to detail and had it cleaned up while I was doing paperwork etc. They gave me a competitive price on the Mopar warranty, matching a vendor I had used before.

I just arrived home and couldn't be happier with the experience. Only wrinkle is that since I'm out of state, will be a couple of weeks with a VA temp tag while they process my registration with FL. As long as that goes smoothly it will have been one of the easiest transactions in a dozen vehicles I've bought. And I walked out better than $10k off sticker on a 60k Ram.

If you're interested, best way to reach Craig is his personal email address - [email protected]. If you google that, you'll find discussions on Wrangler forums about him as well. Also I'm not getting anything for the referral, but tell him Flot sent you if you go through with it, I'm hopeful to buy a Wrangler from the guy in a couple years.

 

[sticker500]

Thanks for the info. How long did it take from order to delivery?

 

[habu987]

That's in my neck of the woods! I'm waiting till August-October to place my order, since I wanna wait for all the options to be in full production by the time I order, and for the early production teething problems to hopefully be resolved.

I'll definitely check out Koons when I start price checking my build at the approximately 3,058,283 local Ram dealers in the fall.

 

[BostonBlueRam]

I had a number of people ask me why I drove 1000 miles to pick up my Ram. I did it to save $4000-5000 over the price I got locally, and wasn't a bad road trip with some stops on the way.

I used Craig Benner at Koons Ram in Tysons Corner, VA. He had run Jeep Wrangler group buys in the past, and I reached out to him in 2016 but never followed through with a purchase. When I was looking at a 2019 Ram, I shot him an email and said sure, he could order me a Ram too.

Craig's discounted prices are specifically targeted at vehicles he custom orders, NOT vehicles on the lot.

I sent Craig an email detailing the options I wanted, we probably went back and forth for 6-8 emails as I revised my order, and then I called to confirm and gave him a $1000 deposit by credit card online. He placed the order and got me the VON and VIN within a few days, and then it was just the waiting game for the factory to deliver. Craig gave me updates every so often, but I did end up subscribing to the jeepgarage tracking so I could see more details along the way.

I flew into IAD and it was about a $25 uber ride (but DCA is about the same and BWI about 2x as far) got to the dealer around 12:30 and was driving home by 3:00.

No games, price was exactly what Craig said it would be, and no pressure from the finance manager when I brought my credit union check. I arrived a little early so they rushed the truck to detail and had it cleaned up while I was doing paperwork etc. They gave me a competitive price on the Mopar warranty, matching a vendor I had used before.

I just arrived home and couldn't be happier with the experience. Only wrinkle is that since I'm out of state, will be a couple of weeks with a VA temp tag while they process my registration with FL. As long as that goes smoothly it will have been one of the easiest transactions in a dozen vehicles I've bought. And I walked out better than $10k off sticker on a 60k Ram.

If you're interested, best way to reach Craig is his personal email address - [email protected]. If you google that, you'll find discussions on Wrangler forums about him as well. Also I'm not getting anything for the referral, but tell him Flot sent you if you go through with it, I'm hopeful to buy a Wrangler from the guy in a couple years.

Will keep him in mind when I buy my RAM at the end of the year! VA is about an 8 hour drive from me, so definitely do-able!

 

[Flot]

Thanks for the info. How long did it take from order to delivery?

I don't think that info will be too helpful for you - I posted in the order status thread a few times, but I think that there's a lot of variability for when your order goes in vs what they are building on any given week, as well as what is going on with individual options etc.

My order date was March 17, got the Vin on March 26, and I complained via the online chat on May 14 about the delays. I believe someone accelerated my build at the factory - it went from "not scheduled" to completed on May 18 and there was a curious priority notation on my build sheet. Thanks, anonymous factory guy!

It actually arrived at the dealer on June 2, so it was about 2.5 months in total from deposit to delivery.

Another point of interest, the Ram had 45 miles on the odometer when I picked it up - and a sticker from the factory on the driver's side window that essentially said that the factory took it for a QA drive of less than 65 miles.

 

[alacombe]

I don't think that info will be too helpful for you - I posted in the order status thread a few times, but I think that there's a lot of variability for when your order goes in vs what they are building on any given week, as well as what is going on with individual options etc.

My order date was March 17, got the Vin on March 26, and I complained via the online chat on May 14 about the delays. I believe someone accelerated my build at the factory - it went from "not scheduled" to completed on May 18 and there was a curious priority notation on my build sheet. Thanks, anonymous factory guy!

It actually arrived at the dealer on June 2, so it was about 2.5 months in total from deposit to delivery.

Another point of interest, the Ram had 45 miles on the odometer when I picked it up - and a sticker from the factory on the driver's side window that essentially said that the factory took it for a QA drive of less than 65 miles.

I would be upset that Ram just drove my truck and put almost 50 miles on it thats bs

 

[Flot]

I would be upset that Ram just drove my truck and put almost 50 miles on it thats bs

I didn't mean to steer my own thread off topic. I'm ok with it. Saved me 45 miles of break in and who knows what (if anything) they may have tweaked (fixed) after the drive.

"This vehicle has been subjected to a Quality Assurance Test. An important part of our Quality Improvement Process is a daily review of vehicles as they roll off our assembly lines. Vehicles are selected at random and tested to verify that the quality of each vehicle meets the high standards that you expect. This vehicle is driven no more than 65 miles / 100 km for evaluation under actual driving conditions."

 

[BostonBlueRam]

I didn't mean to steer my own thread off topic. I'm ok with it. Saved me 45 miles of break in and who knows what (if anything) they may have tweaked after the drive.

"This vehicle has been subjected to a Quality Assurance Test. An important part of our Quality Improvement Process is a daily review of vehicles as they roll off our assembly lines. Vehicles are selected at random and tested to verify that the quality of each vehicle meets the high standards that you expect. This vehicle is driven no more than 65 miles / 100 km for evaluation under actual driving conditions."

I am sure it was a legit QC ride. I mean if you are the guy doing this all day I don't think you would get much enjoyment taking it for a "joy" ride

 

[Craftman]

2,700 miles a little too far for me.

 

[Cluck]

I would definitely want them to drive it 50 miles. With all the new high tech junk on these trucks today.... yes, please .. test it!
And yes, the guy that is doing the testing does this all day long.... I doubt he is driving it like he stole it. But even that would be fine if it ensures my truck is solid when I get it.

 

[Flot]

Wanted to follow-up, I got my vehicle registration and a $500 refund check (taxes I assume) from the dealer via FedEx today.